Last minute strike sees Foxes first point

It remains to be seen if, having worn their competitive hearts on their sleeves in the 1-1 draw against Ipswich, they have earned him a stay of execution.

In fact, Harry Redknapp, apparently unfulfilled in his role as director of football at Portsmouth, remains a spectre in the background. The word is that the former West Ham manager, approached by Leicester as a replacement if Taylor should fail, has already lined up Frank Lampard and Dave Bassett as his assistants.

Yet on Saturday the Leicester support rose in standing ovation for the team?s whole-hearted persistence that produced a deserved last-gasp equaliser by substitute Dean Sturridge.

Taylor was totally vindicated from accusations that he has ?lost? the dressing room.

?This performance was for Peter Taylor,? declared Robbie Savage, whose combative display brought him the contempt of Ipswich manager, George Burley, for ?looking like he?d been hit by a sledgehammer? in the incident which resulted in the visitors? Italian goalkeeper, Matteo Sereni, being sent off.

Savage added: ?If you believe this game was make or break for Peter, then I think we showed by the way we played that we all believe in him. It was a bit unfair there should be talk of getting rid of him so early in the season. We like, and respect him, and it was high time some of the more experienced players showed some of the competitive Leicester City spirit of old.

?I believe we did that and there must be more to come.?

Savage?s sentiments were echoed by skipper Matt Elliott, who said:?Everyone knew what was at stake and you could see that in the way we went about things.

?It was a marked improvement on the previous two games and there was a bit of impetus about us.

?Perhaps at times our performances haven?t reflected it, but 99 times out of 100 the players are behind the manager.

?The last thing we want is to see a change of manager. I?d like to think the way we played against Ipswich is an indication of how we feel in the camp about the manager and staff.?

It is a pity such devotion to the cause was not in evidence in the game against Bolton on the opening day of the season or during that run of successive defeats at the end of the last campaign which have subjected Taylor to such pressure. But better late than never.

Leicester refused to succumb to the setback of a 13th-minute goal adeptly rifled home by Marcus Stewart. They also shook off the disappointment of Muzzy Izzet?s 60th-minute penalty miss ? after the retaliatory challenge by Sereni on Savage resulted in the Ipswich goalkeeper?s red card ? and the dismissal of defender Lee Marshall for an ill-tempered 81st-minute clash with Martijn Reuser.

And they were still pushing forward relentlessly when Sturridge nipped on to a swiftly taken freekick by Izzet to score at the second attempt in added time.

Burley might have been disappointed, having come so close to a victory, but he recognised the significance of the result to his counterpart, saying: ?Peter Taylor is a smashing fella and it was obvious that his players wanted to do well for him on this occasion.

?Perhaps Leicester should take a look in our direction. Ipswich have always believed that managerial continuity is the way forward and, sometimes, clubs should be patient. I?m surprised about all the speculation over Peter. How can you judge anyone on a couple of games??